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LAHORE, (MANEND NEWS): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) that he had ‘concrete information’ of another ‘attack’ at his Zaman Park residence during the Eid holidays and requested the LHC to prevent police officials from arresting him.
The former prime minister made these claims during a hearing on his petition filed in the court to issue directives to concerned quarters to not take action against him in 121 first information reports (FIRs) registered against him
Imran informed the court that the incumbent government did not want to incarcerate him, rather they aimed to “eliminate” him as they had attempted in Wazirabad.
He furthered that he had “concrete information” that his residence in Lahore will be “attacked” during the Eid holidays as the government was aware that courts will be closed for the holidays.
The PTI chief alleged that the situation at his Zaman Park residence would deteriorate if it was attacked again. Imran added that despite agreeing with TORs and court orders, police officials had attacked his residence which was “equal to committing contempt of court”.
He took to the rostrum twice and reiterated that those who wanted to eliminate him were sitting in the government and that they “wanted bloodshed, not relief”.
Subsequently, the LHC requested Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti to constitute a larger bench on Imran’s plea.
Proceedings
As the proceedings commenced, the PTI chairman’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar argued that the practice of registering cases against the party leader had continued.
He maintained that mala fide intentions of the authorities could be judged through the registration of over 100 FIRs, which included the application of the anti-terror act, registration of cases of the same nature, and the content of Imran’s speeches.
Safdar maintained that it was astonishing that though the petitioner was attacked, rather than making him the complainant of the FIR, the police officer was made complainant and further added that a similar occurrence was observed in the matter of party worker Zile Shah’s murder case.
“We have obtained bail orders and the protective bails from all cases but if the petitioner’s arrest is required in any case the police should disclose it,” he said.
Imran’s counsel stated that the court should examine if the PTI was a criminal party and detailed that party leaders Ali Zaidi, Fawad Chauhdry, Shahbaz Gill and senior advocate Azhar Siddique were targeted in the FIRs.
Safdar questioned why police personnel could not be restrained from arresting Imran during the Eid holidays as there is a precedence for such relaxations even during times of war.
“In the cases of Shahbaz Gill and Imran Khan, police officials had been restrained from taking any coercive measures but they did not bother to comply with the court’s orders,” he argued.
The counsel further maintained that on the other hand, police officials strongly opposed the PTI chief’s version of events and claimed that nothing illegal had occurred.
The law officer argued that from 1971 to date there were a lot of judgments that had declined similar requests to restrain anyone from influencing and intervening in the investigation process and furthered that the plea filed by Imran did not fall under the jurisdiction of the LHC and the petitions could not be entertained.
He also quoted the judgment of Supreme Court Justice Ijazul Ahsan wherein he had disagreed with LHC’s order of informing someone prior to their arrest.
Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh asked Imran’s counsel about citations of the law officer to which Barrister Safdar argued that those cases were different and were NAB cases.
“And their cases are about registration of FIRs, formation of JIT, seeking case details, the illegal appointment of officials and others,” he informed the court.
However, the court after hearing the law officer and petitioner’s counsel sent the case file to CJ Bhatti proposing a larger bench on this issue.
As the judge was dictating the order, Safdar also requested the court to fix the hearing on the same day.